by Pastor Anthony Pranno
Holy Week makes up about a fourth of the Gospel of Luke. Everything was leading up to the point where Jesus fulfilled his life’s purpose to die for the sins of the people, rise from the grave, and offer forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who believed in him.
According to Luke 19:47-48, Jesus taught every day of Holy Week in the temple area. Priests, teachers of the law and other leaders among the people followed him around, looking for ways to accuse him and even planning ways to kill him. But they couldn’t find any evidence against him or creative ways to map-out his death. Why? Because of the people. They hung on his words. They were driven to follow Jesus even more than the others were driven to kill him. His words were like nothing they’d ever heard.
As we trod through Holy Week 2000 years later, I wonder if we hang on Jesus’ words like they did. Do we recognize the beauty, wisdom and truth represented in everything Jesus said – and the example he set? Does it take an armed guard to pry us away from the Scriptures… or only a busy schedule, a good TV show, or an hour of extra sleep? The authorities were afraid to take Jesus into custody because his followers were so committed to hearing & learning from him. If they abducted the Truth, there might be a riot! But truth seems up for grabs these days. If ours is kidnapped and taken away, we seem to find another version somewhere else.
Today, Wednesday of Holy Week, let’s renew our commitment to grab hold of, protect, and correctly handle God’s Word of Truth. There are those who threaten to take away our access to Jesus and his words. May we be so driven to follow Jesus and obey his commands that those who would try to keep us from him realize they’re outmatched and get out of the way.
